Ron Manus has assumed the role of CEO at Alfred Publishing from his brother, Steve Manus, who has moved to Spain with his wife and daughter.

“When Steve first started talking with me about retiring, I couldn’t imagine Alfred without him,” Manus said. “But over the last two years, as I developed my vision for Alfred’s future, I realized taking on this new role was a perfect fit for me.

“Alfred is the industry leader in instructional methods for every instrument, and we continue to lead with exciting, cutting-edge technologies. Some of our latest innovations include fully customizable instructional products, digital downloads, mobile applications and environmentally friendly print solutions.”

Alfred has recapitalized and established a minority interest Employee Stock Ownership Plan for its employees.

“Essentially, this makes everyone working with me at Alfred my new business partner,” Manus said. “This fits the personality and independent spirit of Alfred and reflects our open and progressive thinking, as it relates to employee participation in the growth of our business.”

Orchestral Innovations
One of the new instructional methods Manus mentioned was unveiled at a press conference during the Midwest Clinic in Chicago on Dec. 16, 2009.

Sound Innovations is a method for concert bands and string orchestras that’s customizable to a director’s teaching style and classroom situation. Written by music educators Robert Sheldon, Bob Phillips, Dr. Peter Boonshaft and Dave Black, the method will be available in two formats: the Standard Edition and Director’s Choice edition.

“We surveyed thousands of music teachers in the U.S. to find out everything about their teaching, what they want in a method and what would be the most helpful in meeting the challenges they face based on their unique teaching situation,” Phillips said. “We looked at everything available for teachers, got in-depth information about their preferences and pieced together the best of all worlds.” MI